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Homes Demolished By Mistake: City Of Detroit Razes Houses Bought At Auction

A dozen homes were demolished by mistake in Detroit after city officials thought the houses were supposed to be part of a blighted neighborhood torn down near a school.

The homes demolished by mistake were thought to be part of the state’s Land Bank Fast Track Authority program, which takes down neighborhood eyesores. One of those homes had belonged to a part of artists, who bought it for $500 at an auction in October, The Associated Press reported.

Kristine Diven and Micho McAdow said the planned on fixing up the home, but they came in December to find it in a pile of rubble.

“Instead of taking measurements for the boards we needed, we found our house in a pile,” Diven told The Detroit News.

When city officials found out that their home had been demolished by accident, the offered Diven and McAdow a choice of picking another empty, city-owned property as retribution. They were also refunded the $500 they paid for the house.

All 11 of of the other homes had been purchased by Sameer Beydoun, a real estate agent from Dearborn. He said he had intended of fixing up the homes to improve the run-down neighborhood, but now is working with the city of Detroit and state of Michigan on a reimbursement plan.

Officials from the city of Detroit said mix-ups like the homes demolished by mistake are very rare. The demolition was supposed to be part of a $10 million program to tear down 1,200 abandoned buildings surrounding three schools in Detroit.